Ari
'Appearance' A few inches over six feet tall, this escaped Saarebas has the look of someone who once had a solid build, but has diminished to something bony and half-starved. Her pale grey skin is weathered and scarred, violet eyes wary and watchful, and an unruly mop of curly white hair is constantly trying to escape its short braid. The collar she wears is not the massive heavy thing they put on Saarebas - rather a smaller, tighter one. It was put there during Ari's brief captivity by a Tevinter Magister who intended to sell her on the slave market. Scars In the three years since Ari's magic first manifested, she has been through extensive trauma, both physical and psychological. *Her hands and arms are covered in burn stars from early difficulty controling her magic. *Lips bear the scars from being stitched shut. *Wrists bear permanent reminders of the manacles she wore - both as Saarebas, and the smaller ones put on her when she was captured by Tevinters. *A jagged line up her left leg is a souvenir from a piece of debris that impaled her during the wreck of the Green Wave. *Her left horn is broken off - this also happened in the shipwreck. *Her right shoulder is marked with mottled discolouration from injuries incurred when the chain securing a pauldron to her collar was removed by a smith in Llomerynn. (This may be why she has not opted to have the left pauldron - or the manacles on her wrists - removed.) 'Personality' Ari is constantly tense and alert, shocked by every loud noise or sudden movement. She is reulctant to open up or become attached to anyone, believing she may have to flee again. Ashamed of her poor grasp of the common tongue, she speaks little, especially to those she does not know. Around children, however, she is a completely different person. All trace of her usual nervousness vanishes, and she assumes an air of friendly confidence. Ari speaks to children in a manner which makes them feel important; she values their opinions and empathizes with their feelings. This, after all, the role she was assigned, the calling she trained for. It may also be noted that during the year-and-a-half she spent in the Ostwick alienage, Ari picked up the habit of using the word 'shem' to refer to humans. 'Biography' Youth Imekari was a clever and attentive girl, who showed promise in dealing with younger children, and was assigned the role of Tamassran at the age of twelve. There was nothing she wanted more than to spend her life guiding and teaching the little ones. She rogressed steadily in her training, until a Tevinter raid when she was sixteen. Her home village was far from the border, and believed safe, so there was next to no military presence. An ambitious Magister, with a few apprentices and dozens of slave-soldiers, razed the village, raided the farms for supplies, and burned everything else. The young Tamassran-in-training came upon an acquaintance being raped, let out a scream of rage, and... incinerated the rapist. Though her new-found magic helped rout the invaders that day, and save hundreds of lives, she received no thanks. Her role changed, and life, as she knew it, ended. Saarebas Saarebas, dangerous thing, a mage. She was fitted for the collar, chains and mask she was to wear for the rest of her life. Having been content in, and enthusiastic about her role as Tamassran, Saarebas did not take the change well. She hated and feared her own magic. Some part of her believed that if she didn't use it, it would go away and she could return to her old life. This reluctance lead to disobedience and punishment. She spent a week with her mouth stitched shut for voicing dissent to an Arvaraad. She had never cared about the suffering of Saarebas until she was one, and this lead to more guilt. It wasn't long before she was miserable, and began to doubt the truth of the Qun. When she was chosen to accompany a military unit, her hope was that she might die in service to the Qun, and finally find peace. Salvation, if you can call it that, came in the form of another attack by Tevinter forces. Nearly everyone on both sides of the fight was killed, including the Arvaarad controlling her. Unbound, instinct drove her destructive magic to a new limit; she lost control and accidentally injured herself. She was captured by a Magister, who thought selling her on the slave market would make up for the price of all the soldiers he'd lost. That didn't work out for him, however. On the journey to the mainland, their ship was blown far off course in a storm, and wrecked near northern Rivain, in an area still divided between the Qun, the Chantry, and the older local religion lead by the Seers. Freedom It was a Seer's young children who found Saarebas unconscious on the shore, and gave her food. For the first time since she was collared, she met people who didn't fear her for what she was. That was when she took her name. She was not bas; a thing, but rather ari; a person. She decided also that she had not abandoned the Qun. The Qun had abandoned her. Ripped her from a role she was happy with and good at, and turned her into a monster to be feared. The Rivaini didn't fear her; they welcomed her, and she had her first lessons in healing magic there. But freedom was something she had never sought, and something she didn't know what to do with. She quickly grew restless and reckless. A smuggler crew out of Llomeryn was looking to hire a mage, and she signed on, not really knowing why. Violence still terrified her. When the ship stopped in Ostwick, she disembarked, feeling lost and uncertain. The alienage seemed a natural place for an alien to seek refuge. A few elven families eventually trusted her to look after their children, and she made enough coin to survive, though only just barely. The illiteracy rate alarmed her, so as she was learning how to read and write in the common tongue, she taught the elven children everything she could. Everything she knew. Everything except the Qun. For a time, teaching children and not using magic, she was almost content again. Her presence drew too much attention there, however. City guards started asking questions. In an alley just outside of the alienage, she witnessed a human thug dragging off a young elven woman, presumably with the intention of raping her... And the magic came back, unbidden. She struck the attacker down with lightning, badly burning his intended victim in the process. Though she managed to heal the girl's wounds, she knew she had to run again. She knew little of Chantry laws, but was aware that mages aren't allowed to be free. In her imagination, Templar was just another world for Arvaraad. No ship would take her, so she stowed away on one heading southeast toward Jader, hoping to get as far from Par Vollen as maps went. Her hiding place in the hold was discovered, however, and the crew put her ashore on the Wounded Coast, several miles east of Kirkwall. She has been hiding there ever since, never daring to venture closer to the City since she heard mention of the Arishok's presence from a passing merchant. Timeline 9:28 Dragon *14 Solace - During a Tevinter attack, young Tamassran's magic manifests for the first time. *15 Solace - Arvaraad arrives, Saarebas is bound and taken from the only home she knows. 9:29 Dragon *12 Kingsway - Saarebas is sent south with a military unit, to participate in attacks against Tevinter forces. *4 Harvestmere - Magister Aemilia's soldiers engage the Karasten, both sides take heavy casualties; the Magister takes Saarebas captive. *6 Harvestmere - Magister Aemilia sets sail for Tevinter aboard the Green Wave, captive Saarebas in tow. *9 Harvestmere - Green Wave beset by storms and blown off course. *11 Harvestmere - Saarebas discovered on northern Rivaini shore by a group of children. She sees healing magic for the first time, and is fascinated. *15 Harvestmere - Ari names herself. *29 Harvestmere - Ari signs on with the crew of the Wanton Wayfarer. *12 Firstfall - Ari disembarks at Ostwick, as the Wanton Wayfarer prepares to sail back to the warmer north. *1 Haring- Ari takes up residence in Ostwick's Elven Alienage. 9:30 Dragon *The Blight ravages Ferelden, and Ostwick sees an influx of refugees. By the end of the year Ari is providing care and education to upward of thirty Alienage children, whose families mostly pay her by sharing food. She does not use any magic during this year, except for a few minor healings when no one is watching. 9:31 Dragon *26 Justinian - Ari rescues an elven friend from human thugs using lightning magic, and flees the alienage. *30 Justinian - Lacking the coin to buy passage, Ari stows away on a vessel heading east. *3 Solace - Ari's hiding place in the ship's hold is discovered by a crew member, and she is put ashore on the wounded coast. *5 Solace - Ari spends the last of her coin on food and supplies from a traveling merchant, who informs her the Arishok is in Kirkwall. *22 Solace, The Wounded Coast - Gone Fishing Relationships *Magister Aemilia (NPC) - a member of the Tevinter Imperium's Magisterial court who once captured Ari and thought to sell her on the slave market. It is unknown whether or not she survived the wreck of the Green Wave. *Shannon Wyll (NPC) - a Rivaini seer who healed and sheltered Ari after the shipwreck. *Hahren Mindo (NPC) - The Elder in the Ostwick alienage who welcomed Ari into his community and encouraged families there to let her teach their children. *Mira, Rendis, Yoshen, Nerys (NPCs) - Elven children from the Ostwick alienage. *Solanni (NPC) - a young Antivan woman living in Ostwick, whom Ari apparently rescued from thugs. (Whether or not she really needed rescuing remains to be seen, nudge nudge wink wink.) *Devran Argantis (NPC) - a Nevarran merhant who met Ari on the Wounded Coast road, and informed her of the Arishok's presence in Kirkwall (very new character, nothing significant enough to note here at the moment) Spells *Primal: Chain Lightning, Tempest *Arcane: Mind Blast, Barrier *Creation: Heal, Heroic Aura *Saarebas Specialization: Cone of Lightning, Lightning Ball, Electrical Field Additional Links *Ari's picture and profile on DeviantArt *Ari's profile on DART forum Category:Tal-Vashoth Category:Mages Category:Apostates Category:Character Index Category:Original Characters Category:Seherans